Cosmopolitan Cartagena, Day 177

Our last day in Colombia is a series of odd experiences. Christi and I enjoy a late breakfast at the Casa Quero and then head out on to the cosmopolitan streets of Cartagena to soak up the sounds, the culture, the people, and architecture of this city at the very top of South America.

We’re strolling along quite happily gazing at the abundant sculptures on display when we’re stopped by three teenage girls from Medellin. “Are you from America?” one of them asks. Christi admits that she is from Los Angeles, while I tell them I am from Britain. Apparently being British is of no significance whatsoever, but the girls are very excited to talk to cosmopolitan Christi and have their photo taken with her. My role is limited to taking the damn photo. Seriously, aren’t I the interesting, sophisticated, and mysterious one?

I’m still grumbling as we turn the corner and stumble into a photo shoot. The model is of Amazonian proportions, tall enough in fact to pick a piece of fruit right out of the bowl the Carib fruit seller is balancing on her head. Judging by the silhouette the Amazonian is modeling, Christi thinks the company is probably Chico’s Women’s clothing. Being a bit of an amateur photographer myself, I’m offer a few suggestions to make the shoot even more successful (interesting, sophisticated, mysterious, and artistic!), but the Chico’s team decide to go in a different creative direction. Their loss!

Christi thinks I need a cool, refreshing drink to calm me down and so we grab a table at an outdoor cafe in parque Fernandez Madrid. Christi goes for a Cosmopolitan cocktail, while I drink fresh OJ. And then another odd thing happens – a group (mostly girls) dressed in slinky Santa Claus costumes appear offering us free candy. (Quite why the girls are dressed as Santa Claus is January is unclear to me). The candy samples on offer are not nearly as appealing as the eye candy handing it out, though. (interesting, sophisticated, mysterious, artistic and witty!)

On our way back to the hotel Casa Quero we are offered cocaine for the first time since arriving in Colombia. ‘It will help you remember the 80’s!’ the guy exclaimed. We decline graciously. And finally on this day of odd experiences, our hotel’s pet toucan, Poco, has escaped its cage and rather than make a bid for freedom he decides to take a bite out of Christi. Now that is clever.

During our time in Colombia the weather has been variable – second only to Brazil in terms of the rain we have endured. I mention this because as we taxi to the airport a thunderstorm rolls in from the Caribbean. Our flight to Bogota for our 1 am international connection is delayed by two hours, finally departing at 9.30 pm. Luckily the flight (which is tremendously bumpy) is only 1 hour, but then we sit on the tarmac at Bogota airport for 20 minutes waiting for a gate to open up. It takes another 30 minutes to deplane and collect our bags from the luggage carousel. We then learn that our Avianca flight arrived at the domestic terminal, but our TACA flight to Los Angeles departs, not surprisingly, from the international terminal and the courtesy shuttle does not leave until 11.45 pm. More by luck than judgment we find TACA airlines service desk and attempt to check-in. This we cannot do until we obtain paperwork that confirms we don’t need to pay departure tax (so dumb) and then we have to answer a host of security questions before we can finally check-in (it’s now midnight). Next it’s a dash to the departure gate, negotiating two immigration control points and two security checks on our carry-on luggage (x-ray followed by a hand-check). We reach the gate just as the last passengers are boarding and are relieved to collapse into our seats. That is not quite the end of it, however, as TACA forgot to submit a flight plan so Air Traffic Control can’t release us. Heated exchanges from the cockpit and a thirty minute delay, before we finally escape Colombia and South America after 6 glorious months and some wonderful memories.